My Crimson Ranger
by Jetman21
Summary: Slightly AU Ninja Storm Story. Hunter finds himself fighting to keep love alive, but he's not quite sure who he's fighting...or if he should. HunterxOC
1. Chapter 1

**My Crimson Ranger**

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. Power Rangers belongs to Saban Brands. The OC Alice was created by CrimsonRangerFan, who also came up with the idea for the plot.

And thank you to Chrystyaane for Beta-ing!

Hope you enjoy it!

...

Hunter Bradley usually thought of himself as a rational guy. He generally put a lot of thoughts into his actions, and in general tried to be calm. As someone fighting against the forces of evil, this was harder than it looked. He was meeting his girlfriend, Alice Wood.

They'd only been dating for a small while, but they were deeply in love. Being deeply tangled in a battle against evil probably had something to do with it; he was always told stressful situations tended to make people closer.

He was sitting at the beach, and Alice was talking to someone a few feet away. The closer he looked, the more it seemed like they were flirting. He generally wasn't a jealous guy, but occasionally the feeling overtook him. Hunter didn't think he had to worry, however.

Alice was as devoted to the relationship as he was. More probably, he thought. After all, she did break up with another guy to get with me, he though. Hunter turned to Dustin Brooks, Yellow Wind Ranger, and the other guy in question.

"Do you think I should be jealous of that guy?" he asked Dustin, gesturing to the surfer talking to Alice.

"I dunno," Dustin said.

"Maybe you should talk to her," Tori suggested. Tori was the Blue Wind Ranger, and usually found herself filling the voice of reason role.

"Good idea," Hunter said. As he did, Alice walked up to him.

"Who was that guy you were talking to?" he asked.

"Kole? He's a total poser," Alice sighed.

"So..you're not into him?" Hunter asked.

"Of course not," Alice said; she kissed Hunter.

"I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Don't be," Alice said. "I mean, it's better to talk through this stuff, right?"

"Do you want to take a walk?" Hunter asked.

"Sure," Alice said. The two of them wandered the beach a bit, and then made their way onto the road. As Hunter walked, he saw Alice occasionally look out into the distance, as if in contemplation.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "It's just…this whole world and everything in it exists, and we're protecting it. That's heavy."

He smiled at her, and they kissed. "I'm gonna buy some flowers," she said, walking up to a flower shop.

Just then, a group of kelzacs teleported up to the two of them, attacking them.

They started fighting them off, but a few grabbed Alice, teleporting off with her.

Shane, Tori, Dustin and Blake ran up to Hunter.

"Where's Alice, bro?" Blake asked.

"The Kelzacs took her, man," Hunter said angrily.

"Well, we'll get her back, man," Dustin said.

"Man, I hope so," Hunter sighed.

Hunter went over to the hill near his house to think. He loved that spot because it was so isolated from everything, but he could see so much of the city so clearly. It was a good place to reflect; apart from him, nobody went there.

"I hope she's okay," he said to nobody.

Inside Lothor's circus of a spaceship, Alice Wood felt the opposite of okay. She was scared for her life, in the inside of the enemy playing field, and the atmosphere was so sickening she wanted to throw up. Lothor was giving commands and laughing at his subordinates, who she tried to remember the names of.

Part of her kept looking at the doors, or at least, what she thought were doors.

"Maybe my Hunter will save me," she said. She didn't quite like the way that sounded out loud. Maybe it was the fact she was asking for someone to save her.

'I'm just as much of a ranger as him,' she thought. She stared at the door some more.

"Maybe my crimson ranger will save me," she sighed.

The next thing Alice knew, she was being dragged to an operating table. Something was implanted into her brain, and then she wanted to throw up.

...

Alice opened her eyes, looking around.

"Where am I?" she asked.

She experienced flashes of a dark room, and an operating table, and a laughing man in a black mask. Then she observed her surroundings. She was in a cornfield, wearing a white dress. It vaguely resembled a hospital gown, so she assumed that was what it was. A twisted version of one, anyways. There was nobody around, but there were footprints.

"What's my name?" she wondered. It wouldn't come to her. She was drawing a blank. With a sigh, she reviewed all the other facts she knew. As full as her brain was with information she'd accumulated, she couldn't remember anything about her personal life.

She walked from the cornfield, wandering over to the nearest town.

"Blue Bay," she said, reading off a street sign. Then she saw it was partially obstructed by a building. She looked closer at the sign.

"Blue Bay Harbor," she sighed.

"Well, according to these readings, she's still on Earth," Cam said.

"Which is good," Hunter noted. "Do you know where?"

"No," Cam said. "I think they did something to screw with her readings. But it seems she was taken off the planet and then…put back."

"So, what now, we put up a bunch of missing posters?" Shane asked.

"I'm going to work on increasing the power of the scanner, I'll tell you if I find her…or anything," Cam sighed.

Hunter had always admired Cam's dedication to his work. As a ranger, and as a technical advisor or whatever his position was, Cam was amazing. He was always on top of his game, and if he wasn't he would immediately strive to be. Hunter considered telling Cam all of this.

 _Maybe today's a day to turn over a new leaf,_ Hunter thought. He sighed, silently cursing his internal self.

"Thank you Cam, for everything," he said.

He made his way out of Ninja Ops, going off on his own. He considered visiting the hill, but he wasn't sure how much silent reflection could help him more than it already had.

"Where are you going?" Blake asked.

"I don't know," Hunter said. "I want to be ready, incase I have to bust something...or someone open."

"So?" Blake asked.

"Like I said, I don't know," Hunter sighed.

After his conversation with Blake, if anyone could call it a conversation, he started warming up to the idea of going back to the hill. It was always a good place to calm down.

...

It was seven o'clock.

Hunter walked over to the hill at around three thirty, and he deduced he must have dozed off at around four. He turned on his phone, checking his most recent text conversations.

Shane ( **2** unread )

Tori ( **1** unread )

Blake ( **1** unread )

Cam ( **6** unread )

Dustin ( **1** unread )

Alice ( None unread )

Kelly ( None unread )

He texted Tori first.

* * *

 _Hunter: Dozed off. Anything new?_

 _Tori: No. Are you okay?_

 _Hunter: Im fine. Headed to Storm Chargers now_

* * *

Alice was wandering the city, when a group of kelzacs attacked her. She knew kelzacs were bad, but wasn't quite sure why. She ran away, into an empty warehouse. The door closed, locking her inside.

"Looking for this?" a woman, Kapri, asked, as he held up a key. It slipped through his fingers, falling on the ground. she searched for it for a few seconds.

"What's she's trying to say," another woman. Marah, said, pushing past Karpi. "Is that you're stuck here. And you're going to answer to us." She tried sounding assertive.

"Who are you?" Alice asked.

"Nobody," Kapri said.

"But everybody," Marah said.

Cam called the rest of his team into Ninja Ops.

"I think I've found her this time," he said. "She's at the old warehouse."

"Okay, man," Hunter said.

The six rangers went over to the warehouse in search of their seventh, tearing down the door and attacking Marah and Kapri, who escaped.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked, as he and the rest demorphed.

"I don't know," Alice sighed. "I think they didn't want me around because I might be dangerous, but I was a valuable asset for some reason, so they wanted to keep me here. That's what I've pieces from what I remember and what's happened."

"Well, it's a good thing you're fine now," Dustin said.

"So, who are you guys?" Alice asked. "Are you the power rangers."

"Don't you remember?" Hunter asked.

"Remember what?" Alice asked.

Ruling her lapse in memory as a potential problem, the rangers took their teammate back to Ninja Ops, where Cam ran tests on her.

"She's suffering from some form of amnesia," Cam said.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Hunter said. "How can we get her back to normal."

"Sometimes, what is normal is not what exists," Sensei said. "The important thing to remember is what matters."

"What if someone doesn't remember anything?" Hunter asked.

"Well that depends on if it matters or not," Sensei said.

"What are you?" Alice asked.

"I am your sensei," Sensei said.

"I think it's coming back to me now," Alice said. "Of course! And I'm a ninja student. Or was, anyways."

"Yes," Sensei said.

She pointed at Dustin. "And you're my boyfriend."

"No, no, we're friends now," Dustin said. "You're dating Hunter."

"Oh, sorry Hunter," she said. "How could I forget you, of course I'm in love with you." She leant in to kiss Shane.

"I'm not Hunter," Shane said.

"Are you?" Alice asked, pointing at Tori.

"I am," Hunter said. He walked up to her and held her hand.

She had a hard time remembering anything, but this more than the rest. For some reason, she couldn't get it into her mind that she was dating him. In one touch, there relationship felt different from anything her brain knew about relationships, and maybe that was a good thing.

"It's been pretty stressful, maybe we should let Alice get some rest," Cam said.

"I think that's for the best," Alice said.

"See you tomorrow," Tori said, hugging Alice. The rangers left Ninja Ops, one by one.

* * *

 _Cam: Are you okay?_

 _Hunter: Fine_

 _Cam: Do you need to talk through this with someone_

 _Hunter: Yes. With Alice. When she's ready._

* * *

Every day, for the next week, Hunter did everything he could to get close to Alice. He hung out with her whenever he had free time, he brought her a different flower every day, and he stayed up at night to text with her about existentialism and the nature of fighting. And then, on the seventh day, as they were laughing at a joke he told her, he got caught up in the moment, leant in, and kissed her.

"I'm sorry," Hunter said. "I should have asked first."

"I love you, Hunter Bradley," Alice said. "It feels weird to say. It's kind of my first time saying it. It feels like the first time."

"It's actually close to the first time." Hunter said.

"Oh," Alice said. "Well, I'll make sure to get as far away from the first time eventually."

"I love you, Alice Wood," Hunter said.

"I've had these weird nightmares that you're not who you say you are," Alice said. "I mean, I feel like we're in love, but it's hard to accept it as a fact. I think I missed the part of our relationship where I get to know you."

"You kind of did," Hunter sighed. "When you get your memories back it'll all make sense."

"And until then?" Alice asked.

"We make new ones," he sighed. He took her hand in his, and escorted her to his hill.

"What's this place?" Alice asked.

"The place where I like to be alone," Hunter said. "To think."

"It's a shame I don't remember it," Alice said.

"I've never taken you here," Hunter said. "This is new. In every sense of the word."

"It's a nice spot," Alice sighed. "I could get used to this."

Hunter sat down. Alice turned around to take in the view, but turned back to him when it sounded like he was crying.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He was tearing up. "I've lost people before," he sighed. "And I kind of lost you. And at the same time you're still here, like a constant reminder."

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden," Alice said.

"I didn't mean it like that," Hunter said.

"I don't remember much, but will remember this," Alice said. She walked away, crying.

Hunter stayed where was. There wasn't anything he could have said to make the situation better, and he was already at his spot for quiet reflection. He took some time to quietly reflect, dozing off for a few minutes. After that, he checked his phone.

He had no new messages.

* * *

 _Hunter: I think I ruined my relationship with Alice_

 _Dustin: i thought it was ruined before_

 _Hunter: I fixed it and then I broke it again. Maybe you should talk to her_

 _Dustin: c ing her now. c u later_

* * *

"How are you, bro?" Blake asked as he and Hunter went over selections of flowers to buy for Alice.

"Well, I ruined my thing with Alice," Hunter sighed. "I kind of hope she gets her memories back soon. I think things were less complicated then."

"Shouldn't they be less complicated now, bro?" Blake asked. "You have a clean slate."

"Let's just say I smashed the slate pretty quickly."

"Well, I'm here for you bro."

"Thanks bro."

* * *

 _Dustin: hunter_

 _Dustin: hunter ? ?_

 _Dustin: Hunter!_

 _Hunter: Sorry, phone was off_

 _Hunter: Are you ok?_

 _Dustin There was a kiss_

 _Dustin: Between Alice and me_

 _Dustin: Or Alice and I_

 _Dustin: I think me_

 _Hunter: Who started it?_

 _Dustin: I think me_

 _Hunter: I'll talk to her_

 _Hunter: Thanks for telling me_

* * *

Hunter tried texting and calling Alice, but it was no use. He looked around for her, eventually finding her on the hill.

"It's a good place to think," she sighed.

"Yeah, I know," he said.

"Right," Alice said.

"Did you and Dustin really kiss?" Hunter asked.

"I'm so sorry," Alice said. Hunter hugged her.

"It's okay," he said. "This is confusing to all of us."

"You're not mad?" Alice asked.

"Well, everything's been kind of messed up since you lost your memories," Hunter sighed.

"Yeah," Alice said. "I think they're coming back though. Ever since the kiss."

"The kiss?" Hunter asked.

"It was so right," Alice said. "Or so wrong, but it launched all these feelings in me. And my thoughts started coming back."

"I'm so glad for you," Hunter said.

"So what now?" Alice asked.

"It almost sunset," Hunter said. "This place has really nice sunsets."

"And after that?" Alice asked.

"Well, if you want to get back with me, the offer's on the table," Hunter said. "And if not, I wish you and Dustin luck."

"I don't think Dustin and me would work," Alice said. "I'm starting to remember why it didn't in the first time."

"I'm sorry I put you in that place with that talk about losing you," Hunter said. "I guess…I've just lost so much, but in a way, losing so…absolutely...is kind of comforting. And with you, as awesome as it was, it felt like…"

"Being haunted?" she asked.

"Yeah, kind of," he sighed. "But even if you weren't getting your memories back, I'd still love you."

"I know," Alice said. "And I love you too, Hunter Bradley."

"Do you want to come with me to my race tomorrow?" Hunter asked.

"Sure thing," Alice said. "I'll have to leave right after. I have my first skim boarding competition in ages."

"I'll go with you," Hunter said.

"Wait, don't you have to stick around longer if you win?" Alice asked. "Actually, you can leave early with me because you don't have to worry about that."

"Screw you," Hunter said.

They both started laughing, and then fell down and laid together, kissing each other, as the watched the sunset. Through their eyes and through the glow of the sun above them, they could tell they were going to work things out.


	2. Chapter 2

**My Crimson Ranger**

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. Power Rangers belongs to Saban Brands. The OC Alice was created by CrimsonRangerFan, who also came up with the idea for the plot.

Hope you've enjoyed it!

...

Hunter looked around to see himself in a cafe. There was folksy music playing, and a woman sat down next to him. She was his mother.

"Mom?" Hunter said.

"I just came to say that it'll be okay," she said. "And to not be upset if things don't turn out like you planned."

"Okay," he sighed.

"You should hold onto the past, but keep moving forward as you do."

Hunter woke up from his dream, going to his cell phone to text Alice.

* * *

 _Hunter: Do you ever think about where our relationship is going?_

 _Alice: Not really_

 _Alice: I'm still trying to remember_

 _Alice: Where it's been_

* * *

Blake walked up to Hunter, who was online, looking for a gift for Alice.

"Can I talk to you about something, bro?" Blake asked.

"Sure," Hunter said.

"What do you think Tori would say if I asked her out?" Blake asked. "Like, on a real date."

"I don't know," Hunter sighed. "I'm not sure if she's ready for another serious relationship."

"You're right," Blake sighed.

"I thought you already went on a date with her," Hunter said.

"It wasn't really," Blake said. "And it was kind of awkward anyways. You know what, it's probably for the best if I don't ask her."

"Yeah," Hunter said.

"Inter-team relationships always make things complicated," Blake sighed, before realizing what he was implying. "Except for you and Alice."

"Of course," Hunter sighed.

* * *

 _Unknown: Come to the park_

* * *

Hunter walked up to Alice, sitting alone in the park, her hair slightly shorter. She was holding a phone in her hands. It was a new phone; she'd just bought it, having lost her old one. He saw she was wearing sunglasses, but in that weather the sun itself was nowhere to be seen. He sat down next to her.

"My memory , it's not getting better," she said. "At least, not at the rate I hoped." Hunter kissed her, and told her that everything was going to be okay.

"I need a moment alone," she sighed.

* * *

The rangers were alerted to the presence of a monster and wrnt to deal eith it. The monster was tough, preying on their thoughts and insecurities. As the rangers ambled about, trying to get leverage, Hunter sighed, before tackling the minster head on.

"You're not immune to doubt or pain," the monster reminded him, before injecting him with insecurity.

The other rangers assembled a new weapon, and destroyed the monster with it.

Hunter walked away from the others, still morphed. He collapsed on a rock a few feet away, removing his helmet. He stared at his helmet, and for a moment he hallucinated that it was Alice's face - the old Alice, the one who knew him, the one he knew.

The next thing he knew, the real Alice was standing in front of him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he sighed. They stayed there for a moment, their consensual silence more comforting than words ever could be.

They went back to Storm Chargers to be with the others for a bit. Tori walked up to Alice.

"Nice haircut," she said.

"Thanks," Alice sighed. "Do you think I'll get my memories back?"

"I'm sure you will," Tori said. "But...don't feel pressured to go back to being the person you were before this happened."

"Thanks for saying that," Alice sighed as she walked away.

Tori watched as Hunter got in his car and started driving.

"Where's he going?" she asked.

"I don't know," Blake said.

Blake got into his car, and followed Hunter. Hunter stopped by the hill, and then walked up to it. Blake stepped out of his car, following his brother.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"This is where I go to think," Hunter said.

"That's cool," Blake said.

The two of them sat together, thinking, and a few moments later, Alice and Tori joined them.

Blake pulled Tori aside and the two talked for a moment, and Hunter and Alice watched their conversation.

"I hope they work it out," Hunter sighed.

"What about us?" Alice asked.

Hunter held onto her hand. "We'll be fine. Better than fine. Golden."

Alice kissed him.

"I tried buying jewelry for you," Hunter said. "It'll get her sometime in the next month."

"Thanks," Alice said.

"I don't need my old memories to remember why you love me," Alice sighed.

The two watched as Blake kissed Tori on the cheek, and then the four sat down together

Tori texted Cam, Shane and Dustin, who arrived shortly after, and the seven of them sat together with their thoughs as they watched the sun set.

The End


End file.
